"So now you're the Princess of Deuce's Fan Club! " Clawd wasn't screaming, but he was furious all the same.
Cleo's thickly painted eyes angled unnaturally diagonally. "I am not now, nor will I ever be anyone's fangirl!"
They were still in their uniforms as they talked in the abandon classroom. Only ghosts were left in the halls of Monster High.
"I don't get it! If you wanted to jump on the punk-green-merry-go-round, then why didn't we just break up!?"
"Things were complicated!"
Such a stupid, untrue remark left Clawd speechless. He wanted to throw so many accusations; like Cleo only wanted to string dudes along for her giant ego. Or that she was a slut who did it with Deuce, he didn't call back and whatever she thought was happening was all in her head.
But that was cruel and with all Deuce's flaws, he still wouldn't treat a ghoul like that.
Clawd took a few huffs in and out and calmly asked, "Can you tell what I did wrong as your boyfriend?"
His sincerity was touching it needled Cleo. She made that apparently as she coolly told him- "You did nothing wrong. It made all this so much more harder on me."
Clawd arched an eyebrow and titled his head. His ears flopped in dry confusion.
"How exactly?"
"You were so good to me, so loyal and always a cuddly grin on. You were a very nice boyfriend." Cleo told the werewolf she use to love.
She never would love him again, but at one point Cleo saw Clawd as a worthy monster. They probably would've lasted longer if the mummy hadn't found someone sexier and more fun.
"And you think Deuce will do better?" Talking bad about his bro wasn't as bad as his bro sneaking around with his girlfriend. "I can't believe he'd-"
"FOR THE RECORD," Cleo spoke over the werewolf, "Deuce never laid a hand on me, even though he wants to. All we've done is talk. And in those talks his main concern was his friendship with you."
If not for the heavy evident of Deuce's former love life, I'd imagine he'd play for your team; Cleo thought this but didn't want to confuse the sweet, naïve Clawd.
Clawd did not get what she was hinting. He guessed she was trying to say, "So, do you think you could convince Deuce to become a point guard?"
"Are you serious?" You've just peaked at dating and you're still worried about your team, Cleo was very ready to take this sad puppy off her speed dial.
"I can live with us breaking up, but it'd be nice if you did this for me."
This boy has such messed up priorities, Cleo tested her memory of which five pumps she left in her locker.
And now the final limestone brick was laid. Now was the time to be elegant and dignified, Cleo raised her chin and put on a regal glaze.
"Clawd Wolfe, you are relived from the duties of being my boyfriend. Your services were appreciated but they, and all the benefits are now and forever rendered over." Cleo found this declaration to be courteous and sufficiently affectionate.
To Clawd's floppy dog-ears it sounded pretentious. What he said, intentionally warmly was "Alright, Cleo."
It was a wonder to Cleo what happened to eloquence in men. Draculaura's daddy was a master of word play and the skill ended in his generation it seemed.
Deuce wasn't an exception to this sad fact but with the right poking Cleo imagined she could push some lyrical promises out of him.
Giving a wrapped, sparking hand to his bigger, sharper clawed, Cleo shook it as an official end. There was a short moment of lingering; Cleo felt the heat from the game and the fast pulse in him.
They let everything end there- resentment, regrets, nothing left.
"Well, that was not my best work." Cupid swung back a Pink Lady.
The prissy ghoul was sharing romance secrets with Clawdeen and Draculaura. She'd found the two ghouls trying to spy on Clawd and Cleo's breakup. It involved Clawdeen trying to lower her best-friend (who'd never learned to transform into a bat) with a strong vine off the edge of Monster High's roof. Luckily they found the wrong window, a window Cupid happened to be hanging out in (for her own reasons).
When asked, "What are you doing?" Clawdeen had a moment of clarity. The she-wolf realized she (and Lala) had gone too far.
They sat in Cupid's radio studio and told their Charlie's Imps story. Cupid found it ruefully charming and gave them points for trying. She even admitted that they'd done a better job with Cleo's heart than her work provided.
"I really thought they'd fit. I mean it's the classic head fearleading princess with the top dog jock of the school. I overlooked the daring darling because he was spreading the seeds of love with other ghouls." Cupid felt she could only share with these two nutjobs.
Clawdeen was being polite sipping the Pink Ladies Cupid made them- her preference was something with more kick and silverdust. The faux risk of that made drinking better for Clawdeen's taste buds.
Draculaura had lost the sense of taste decades ago when she became a vegan. She could eat (almost) anything now and relished in the flavor of nonviolent edibles.
"Even now I don't understand the spark they made. It's like a square peg in a circular hole- Cleo is the kind of ghoul who needs a solid boyfriend to constantly be there for her, to remind her she's perfect (Cupid shook her head goofily) and hold her purse. But Deuce is a restless kind of boy- despite his stone metaphors Deuce is not a steady boy; he really likes doing whatever he wants when he wants to."
"Well, they're both self-absorbed so they have that in common." Clawdeen offered some perspective to Cupid's confusion.
Cupid's curls shook as she disagreed with Clawdeen on a point. "The boy's not self-absorbed so much as he is just 'whatever's cool, dude', and I can see that getting under Cleo's gold-trimmed wrappings in a Peloponnesian minute. "
"You know vhat?" A whoozy high-pitch voice counter-argued, "I say vho are ve to say vho can and can't fall in love with, and date and make it last forever. Or at least a veek, or foreve- ya know? Love is so beautiful; ve should just let dhem go at it, okay? Just go crazy vith dhe loving and dhe sucking and…"
Cupid whispered into the werewolf's pointy ears, "I think your ghoul's a lightweight."
Draculaura's big grey eyes weren't matching directions but Clawdeen knew she'd remember everything in the morning.
The werewolf smiled at her wiser beastie. "I think she's on target."
Years later Clawdeen's comment still lite up Lala's unmoving, big heart.
"And dhat's vhy you're dhe love of my life." The pink Lolita-dressed ghoul told her beastie- she put a sparkling heart nail to her lips. "Please don't dell my boyfriend."
The werewolf giggled and took her best-friend's lacy hand.
"Cross my heart and look out of date." Clawdeen had a big, happy grin and the whiteness of the smile distracted Draculaura from the road.
Lagoona had her webbed hands on the wheel Lala apparently forgot about and back-seat drove them out of disaster.
They were only a block away from the concert. Lagoona didn't put a crab in Ula-D's shorts by nagging her driving. Abbey felt better educated about her friends and silently soaked that in. The white-blue-&-pink haired ghoul went through the photos of baby yaks on her iCoffin. She, Ghoulia (who was reading a science journal/ graphic novel on her deluxe iCoffin), Lagoona and Frankie were in Draculuara's backseat.
The lovely mint-green girl rubbed her sea-foam-green friend's shoulder in kind comfort. Lagoona wasn't freaked out about the almost crash- she found Lala and Clawdeen's pinky holding too cute to blow waves over.
Frankie's electric heart felt so big and full that she could power Scaris for a week. She always thought Cleo and Deuce were a great couple and now, looking at the old Fearbook all her fears and confusions were hushed.
The page she found was Clawd& Cleo were voted 'Cutest Couple' that year. The picture of them kissing took up an entire page, and the page after it was the Deuce Fan Club listed between the ZAPCAP (Zombies against processed, cheap awful food) and Heath's Top 3 most embarrassing blunders.
This confused Frankie at first – how could Cleo ever be in a couples' picture without Deuce?
Especially when her friends told her how important and eternal pictures were. But then, without them having to tell her, Frankie realized the moments in time aren't what lasted forever- it was how significantly cute their outfits were. With or without her true love, Cleo still had great style and that was worth keeping the picture in the book.
ANDTHEPARTTHATTHEGHOULSDIDN'TSEEBUTREALLYNEEDSTOBE INTHISSTORY
Deuce leaned against the outside gym of Monster High, anticipating screaming. He was ready for any reason for their coming- any reason to be next to Cleo when she needed him.
A disturbing thought that maybe Monster High's 'Cutest Couple' was making up twisted knots in the snake-hawked boy's stomach. His options if that were true; A. take his dignity and forget he ever tried to get with the Mummy. B, forget dignity all together and get Cleo no matter how big the other dude is. C. Find a dude with a time machine and prevent this mess from ever starting.
Cleo's cute, nerdy friend was a genius so maybe had one in secret. Deuce took a minute to compare the contrasting friendship- then he considered how he'd look with Cleo. All the contrast there made him grin and consider a playlist.
He was organizing whether to put "Dip You in Chocolate" along with "Let's Set the Planet Ablaze" when a strong hand punched his shoulder.
Cool bruise to stare at later, but in that moment Deuce's snakes hissed viciously. He turned around, fingers to his sunglasses, and braced for Clawd to go again.
"Dude!"
"Yeah."
"I mean,"
"I know."
"Aww, dude." Deuce felt guiltier that Clawd wasn't letting feel as guilty as he deserved.
"Bro, let it be." Clawd held out a paw for his scaly friend to shake.
The Fates were finally being kind to him; Deuce took the hand then pulled Clawd into a rough half-hug.
The fury dude accepted his bluddy and they didn't have anything else to say.
"Later, bro." Clawd slung his gym bag over his wide shoulders and made for home. He'd deserved a night with his waiting teammates.
Telling Clawd he was the best bro a guy could ask for was too gooey to even pretend to imagine saying, so Deuce said, "Peace, dude."
Just as his wolf-pal got on all fours and ran home (cause it was faster than a cab), Deuce heard a ringtone. It was a text message from a ghoul without a boyfriend and in desperate need of a home-baked cupcake.
…
The fountain in front of Monster High was not glamorous or even pretty. Cleo wished her father would donate more to the school, like a better architect, so her place of learning wouldn't be so sore on her royal eyes.
But Cleo would wait until her company had arrived. When Clawd left she did everything the school's ghoul room could do for her touch-up. It'd left her looking stunning instead of drop-dead-gorgeous; it would just have to do.
The impatience ghoul was about to send another text message demanding him to get the lead out when he felt another presence walk up behind her.
This is the moment, kill him with lust! Cleo stood poised with her behind and exposed back to her male company.
"You're horrible for keeping me waiting." Cleo warned- she wouldn't let him see her smile yet. First a little playful begging on his part then the gracious diva would let him hold and squeeze her like a python.
"Oh, baby, Daddy's here for his Mummy, yes he is."
Cleo dropped the alluring pose and turned around angrily to yell, "HEATH! What in Ra's name are you doing here! "
The fiery boy played with his face in a way he thought was attractive- he alone. "Cleo, no more games. The big, bad wolf can't blow me away. Unlike you, with your fly away kisses, you hot little cheater you."
When Cleo blew Deuce a kiss at the game neither of them noticed that Heath was sitting behind the snake-hawk.
The idea was so revolting Cleo had to tell her body to hold back the vomit. The brain-dead yellow boy was approaching to bravely put his hands around Cleo's middle wraps when the mummy saw what she wanted had arrived.
Without removing her eyes from his perfect silhouette, Cleo pushed the little pest into the fountain so Deuce could see her better.
Heath realized he wouldn't drown in the few inches of water and shot his head up again.
"Hey, your Royal Hotness, what gives?" Heath's red hair was sticky with algae.
Resetting her alluring pose to accent her front half, Cleo informed the wet match- "Step off, loser! Can't you see a real man approaches."
Cleo walked away from the fountain to meet her favorite monster in the world (behind herself, of course).
She and Deuce stopped with the length of an index finger between them.
"Hey." Deuce said, appreciating all the work Cleo put into making herself look stunning.
"Hello." The mummy said, liking the fact that her gorgon looked good without even trying.
...
The uncouth band posters, unnecessary amount of lime green clothing on the floor and the unorganized closest did not bother Cleo as much as it could have (for the time being).
Later she would demand vehemently for Deuce to clean because like hell the princess allowed herself to be surrounded by such filth for more than one night.
The first night Cleo learned how much a forked tongue cut the inside of her mouth. The metal taste she'd grow to adore along with the musky cucumber smell.
Deuce liked the smallness of Cleo's chest. There was the rest of her to grab but the lack of sore boobs made her more durable for closeness.
The mummy was sitting against his bed board, clothes and all. Deuce was pushing her against it as they kissed and worked their way into initiating their relationship.
One arm was on Cleo's shoulder, and against the bed board, while the tattooed arm rested behind her back. Cleo's wrapped arms were simply around his neck, though she was planning on going south soon.
To get a breathe, Deuce pulled back kissed the side of Cleo's neck.
"I like you, (kiss) a lot."
"I know." Cleo happily told him, her eyes met the beady eyes of his snakes. Cleo's heart skipped, she adored the bonus of having a gorgon as a boyfriend. "Before you take off your glasses, I made a playlist for this."
"Cool." Deuce backed off of her completely and motioned towards his sound system.
From top to bottom to foot, Deuce liked what Cleo had to offer. Clicking in her iCoffin, Cleo put the speakers on loud- the beat of her pop song started.
Cleo's cool points dropped a bit in Deuce's mind.
The song was painfully bubbily- the tan ghoul with beautiful curves still appealed to him physically. But even as she pushed him back against the bed board and took in former position on being on top, Deuce couldn't get it up.
When he weakly kissed back, Cleo testily pushed off to hear an explanation.
"I'm sorry, but I can't bone a woman to squeaky mouse music." Deuce thought he said this as gently as he could.
The death glare from Cleo scared his snakes but when he wouldn't change his opinion, Cleo had to hit him with a pillow.
"Tell me, Mr. Too-Cool-for-Romantic-Melodies, what would you bone to?" The princess wasn't submitting so much as she was testing him.
With remote off his bed-side drawer and in his hand, Deuce changed his music box to play one of his top eighty favorite songs.
The tempo was loud and made Cleo think of dirty peasants who let their hair grow out and wore the same outfits every day.
She held up her hand to prevent Deuce from pulling her back on top of him.
"I've heard better drum beats at human sacrifices." Cleo questioned Deuce's sanity for even calling such incoherent dribbling music.
Deuce rested his head back, "Okay, babe, choose something from my stuff."
She and Clawd hadn't only been broken up for an hour; Cleo could begin thinning the field of undesirables in search of her real prince.
There was a ring from Deuce's pocket.
Curious to see what little skank was trying to call her man, Cleo took Deuce's phone. Before Deuce could ask for his iCoffin back, Cleo answered the call.
"Hello, this is Deuce's phone- he can't come to now or you ever again because he's about to jackhammer his new girlfriend (beat) Yes he has one now! (beat) Well, you sound fat! (beat) Do you know whom you're speaking to! (beat) Get buried alive, you filthy hag!" Cleo pressed the button that turned his phone off.
"Call your mother back later." Cleo's teal eyes were half opened and her expression was ice and fire at the same time.
"You can play whatever song you want." Deuce was definite he could go the night and enjoy it.
Happy that he finally got the picture of who was always needed to be pleased, Cleo decided to show a little mercy. "Hold that thought, Deucey."
Cleo got up one last time to look through the gorgon's cd collection. It was amazing he still had one; the mummy appreciated monsters in touch with viable antiques.
Most of the titles were violent and random utensils but among the unrecognizable artists, Cleo found on album she truly liked. She pulled it out, put it in the music box and pressed play.
Hearing the ballad, Deuce took off his sunglasses and put in his contacts.
They only lasted a few hours, and while not very expensive Deuce still preferred wearing sunglasses. Neither was dependable 24/7 but at least sunglasses allowed him to nod off in class without questions.
His face looked naked without the shades, but Cleo liked getting her boyfriend naked.
The ancient princess went back into Deuce's arms. They continued to kiss, and Cleo knew when she fully unwrapped she'd have to explain a few things about herself. Cleo would later tell the dark story of her sacred torso and what being resurrected was really about.
The old jeans sled down and boyish t-shirt off, Cleo decided then was a efficient time to start talking about herself.
"I like you too, but you have to remember a few things about me if this is going to go past tonight."
Taking everything off but her earrings and loosening the bandages around her bottom half, Deuce was inclined to do whatever she asked.
"I'm always right, rarely nice and I expect you to keep up with me when I'm dealing with monsters who don't understand why I'm so wonderful first glance." These were not difficult tasks, in Cleo's mind, and the very least things she could ask on their first date. Cleo was on top and they both liked it that way.
Accepting the good, the bad, and the truly wonderful Deuce said, "Cool with me. Now come here."
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Author's note
The songs were-
Selena Gomez's Naturally
Def Leppard's Pour some Sugar on Me
Waiting for a Girl like You- any verison